They reached the depôt in three days, having found only one pool of stagnant water, from which they drank a great deal and refilled the goatskin bag.
Wills was obliged to return afterwards with King to recover the saddles and things that were left when the camels strayed.
For some time Wright had been expected to arrive with the caravan from Menindie; yet a whole month passed and he did not come.
Burke who had now become very impatient at the loss of opportunity and time, determined to make a dash across the continent to the sea.
He therefore left Brahé, a man who could travel by compass and observation, in charge at Cooper's Creek depôt until Wright should arrive, giving him positive instructions to remain there until the return of the exploring party from the Gulf of Carpentaria, which he thought would be in about three or four months.
Burke started northwards on December 16, in company with Wills, King, and Gray, taking with them six camels, one horse, and provisions for three months, while Brahé, three men, and a native were left at the Creek with the rest of the horses and camels.
The expedition was now in three parts, and Wright, who perhaps knew more about the uncertainty of the seasons and the terrible consequences of drought than any of the party, still delayed leaving Menindie with his contingent, though he well knew that as the summer advanced the greater would be the difficulty to travel.
He had become faint-hearted, and every day invented some new excuse for not leaving. One day it was that there were not enough camels and horses to carry the necessary provision; the next, that the country through which they must pass was infested by blacks; the next, that he waited for his appointment to be confirmed by the authorities at Melbourne; and all this time he knew that Burke depended solely upon him to keep up communication with the depôt from the Darling.
Finally he started at the end of January (summer in Australia), more than a month after his appointment was officially confirmed, and more than two months after his return from Menindie.